Sunday, February 04, 2007

Super Bowl XLI Live-Comment Bonanza

Final Update: Colts win Super Bowl XLI! You have to feel good for Tony Dungy. And, yes, you have to feel even better for Peyton Manning. You probably have to feel most (if not best) for Rex Grossman, who is going to be crucified for his performance in this game. (And you have to allow me one brief moment to yelp "I called it!...Colts over Bears!...in August!")

Game MVP: Dominic Rhodes.Ads MVP: Bud Light ("Rock-Paper-Scissors")

It's 10 p.m. The game is over. Thanks for following along, and -- if you're checking this out after the game -- simply scroll down to see commentary from throughout the game. Your thoughts on the game? Have your say in the Comments section.Update: While it's still an issue...last chance: Who gets your MVP vote? I can't give it to Manning and I won't be able to split it between Rhodes and Addai (though that would be best), so I'll say Dominic Rhodes. OK, or ABP (Anyone But Peyton).

Update: Wait, was that the 2-minute warning ad for NFL done by the fan who won the contest? Is it me or did they imply that Brett Favre was retiring? Or was it a sly nod to the fact that he ISN'T retiring? ("For some it's even harder." Harder to leave, so he isn't? Or harder to leave because he's such an NFL icon...but, uh, he isn't leaving.) Can't believe the Colts are going to win the Super Bowl. Wow. Well, good for them.

Update: Enlarged prostate is the new erectile dysfunction. Flomax, baby! (I'm sorry. Anything to take my attention from Rex's implosion.)

Update: Awww, Rexy. You just lost the game on that INT-TD. Damn. Two commenters arguing that was the worst throw in SB history. On replay, it wasn't that bad. Obviously, the implications of the INT are about as bad as you can think of.

(Hmm: How about that Joey T INT in SB 18 in 1984 at the end of the first half that basically sealed the loss for the Redskins? What am I thinking? That's distant history. This is INSTANT history: Rex had the Worst. INT. Ever!)

Wait: Jay-Z and Don Shula playing some crazy futuristic form of that old football game with the magnetized players who vibrate down the field? Wha?Update: I'm going to answer my own question from the end of the 3rd quarter -- how about a co-MVP between Rhodes and Addai? It's unfair to give it to one or the other... and totally unfair to give it to neither simply because they were both equally effective. (Yes, I know: The Colts still have to win. Wait: Or am I trying to invoke the ol' reverse jinx?)

Update: Nope! Back under 7 again. OK, I'm going to stop doing that now. Will has a great point over on the SportsLine "glog" (Does that mean he has beer gloggles?) Given the way that the Colts are winning with the run, not Manning's passing, if they win, will they not give the MVP to Manning? If not, then who? I leave you with that relevant question at the end of the 3rd.

Update: Well, there goes that 7-point spread.

Update: I haven't mentioned this yet, but this game is the reason why actually going to the game is totally overrated. Even in good weather. But in bad weather? Cripes: You couldn't PAY me to be there. You're so much better off being at home.

Halftime Show: It's possible that "Let's Go Crazy" is one of the Top 5 "get fired up" songs of all time. (Yes, I just said "get fired up." And I apologize.) But Prince is pretty freaking awesome.

Wait: They just brought out the FAMU band! They're awesome!

Last comment on the halftime show: That was probably the best musical entertainment for a Super Bowl Halftime Show I can remember. Dare I say: Ever? (If you can think of another, please nominate it. Maybe U2? But this was super-super-solid.)Halftime Update: I defy you to be able to explain any flow to this game. Just when you think the Colts are ready to take over, Adam V. misses a half-ending FG. Whaaa?! Meanwhile, on my Ad Ranking, I'm taking: (1) Bud Light Rock-Paper-Scissors, then a tie for 2nd between the 2 Doritos ads.

Update: Adam Vinatieri...misses? In a Super Bowl? What an omen.

Update: I'm sorry to be so obsessed with Bud Light, but they're the Super Bowl ad gold-standard, this year even more than other years. I'm going to predict that slapping people in the face is the next "Wazzup?!" Keep that shit away from me. (Oh, and the game? If you say you can predict how it's going to go, you're kidding yourself. Bears look in control, all of a sudden, they're behind and look bad.)

Update: Doritos is now 2-for-2 on consumer-generated ad concepts. In fact, this second one was better than the first. I can't believe they got away with "Cleanup on..." Really? Really?! Amazing.

Update: Coke's take on "Grand Theft Auto" was terrific.

Update: Geez, could there be any more fumbles and other unnatural possession changes? (Well, yes...given the weather? A LOT more.)

Update: Bud Light 3... Wow, their ad agency is on fire tonight. The Colts better get something going on offense before it gets too much more wet out there.

Update: Snickers? Not really funny. Like a bad rip-off of a Bud Light ad. I agree with the Commenters: Bud Light's Rock-Paper-Scissors is the leader in the clubhouse.

Update: Wow, did the mo just turn or what? Bomb on blown coverage, followed by a kickoff miscue giving the Colts awesome field position. Wait: No! The Bears get the ball back! I love it!

UPDATE: First block of ads? GREAT start. The Bud Light ad was CLASSIC Bud Light -- frat-funny. The Doritos ad proves that dudes on the street can create funnier ads than the paid ad agencies. Nice work, random guy.

Update: I'm sitting with all Gators fans. We've seen this opening before. Wow, is Hester awesome or what? (And do the Colts special teams suck or what?)Update: Billy Joel's anthem came in, by my watch, at 1:37. The over/under was 1:44. Who had the under?

Update: Cirque de Soleil is the new "Up With People." (No, I'm not going to comment all game long. At least, I'm not planning to. Maybe when I'm inspired.)

OK, here we go: Comment here with your "live" analysis of the pre-game, the game, the ads, the entertainment and everything else.

(I'm still moderating all the comments, but I'll be updating those often, as close to real-time as I can... there might be a lag. No need to re-send your comment if you don't see it up there instantly.)

(And, yes, here is the link to Kornheiser/Wilbon at WashingtonPost.com, even though Wilbon already has this disparaging line about blogging: "I'm not sure why ANYBODY would participate in this silliness while a game is going on." Ooh: We're all so LUCKY to have him!)

Here's to a great game and hope you're having a good time while watching. -- D.S.

137 comments:

I figure someone out there might find this unbelievable. My older brother called me up at 11 this morning asking what time the game started. Since he is always traveling for business he hasn't been paying much attention to football especially since the bucs were atrocious this year. He said he had already ordered pizza and wings because he figured the game was going to start soon since pregame was on ESPN. IS he the only football fan in america with no clue when the game is being played let alone where it is. I just can't believe that in this age of media overload for the super bowl someone who likes football would be so clueless as to anything about the game.

Oh and Dan you are now my fiancee's favorite journalist after she checked out your myspace after seeing you as my friend. She says you are a good husband since you took to following your wife's team. You are setting the bar too high for the rest of us man.

All comments must be approved by the blog author? Really? Well this is knew.

At least this excludes appearences by the Manninghams.

But seriously, if it rains out there I think the Colts may never score.

Maynard could put them so far back and the Bears wouldn't need to stack the box to stop the run in the rain. That leaves Peyton throwing to 3 guys against 4 defenders in the rain with bad field position.

If I'm the Colts, I'd have a plan B.

Of course I'd also be in trouble cause the game starts in 3 hours and I don't have a uniform, cleats, pads, or the courage to play professional football.

I'd also need to get from DC to Miami. But you catch my drift. And if you don't, well I can't help you. You should've taken a drift-catching class in college but you were lazy.

First off, Lebron just got rocked by Rasheed and started whining about it. If it was reversed, Rasheed would have been T'd up twice. The NBA refs are faaaaaaaantastic.

Sheik: I managed to not watch any pregame the past two weeks other than The Balls' stories on Deadspin. I can't stand the hype, and the two week layoff drives me insane. I didn't know when the game started until I checked yesterday afternoon.

What's Manning's QB rating in these playoffs? I don't think all these analysts can justifiably argue for the Indy offensive juggernaut when other than the second half of the NE game, they've been pretty terrible. Worried that between the way the Colts O has played, and the disaster that is Sexy Rexy and the Bears' O, we're in for a terrible game. Super Bowl 'XLI' will be Super Bowl 'silly'.

heroin, your brother is what we call a fairweather/bandwagon fan. 1/2 of the Patriots so called "fanbase" in Boston (mainly girls), couldn't tell you what time the game is or name 5 players on the team. All they know is what time the party is. If your brother was a "football fan" like you say he is, he wouldn't have stopped following after the Buc's season.

I applaud you for taking the class and hope it has been useful to you over the years. Like that time when that girl wouldn't return your phone calls for like 2 weeks. Without that class under your proverbial belt you would have wasted countless time and cell phone minutes. Luckily that was not the case.

Please Note: The paragraph above was a joke and was not intended to insult Jason or anybody that felt they were too good to include Drift-catching as part of their collegiate education.

Please Note: The paragraph above was not a joke and was intended to insult those on this blog that have trouble recognizing a joke when they see one. Lukily, this does not apply to me as I not only included Drift-catching as part of my education put Joke Recognization as well.

There's a game about to start, right? Man, is this CBS pre-game crew uninspiring and milquetoast. I guess they are cheesy and vanilla by design -- to reach the ultimate swath of fans, I suppose. But I'm glad it's background noise and I'm not going to start paying attention until 6 p.m., when at least the ads will get interesting.

Apparently a mere football game isn't enough entertainment--you need Cirque do Soleil! Well, give them this, it's more entertaining than ex-players in suits talking about Devin Hester and Peyton Manning for the nineteen-zillionth time.

My TV hasn't been turned on yet. Small group is coming over and just ordered the pizza. I hate SB pregame shows so the TV won't go on until 6:15 or so.

My kids now found out I have a blogger page which I filled out to comment in this blog. It turns out they couldn't stop laughing and my wife told me that they took the photo I used just to show that I looked doofy in those clothes. Oh well. So much for family support.

Thanks Patriots, for starting the dumb trend of getting introduced as a team. One of the funniest things about the Super Bowl is seeing everyone run out when their name is called and do a dance, or maybe dropping an F-Bomb, ala Tony Siragusa, and now we don't get it.

So far the best commercial is clearly the ocho cinco super bowl party.

"I thought you said cumin!"

Did anybody notice that when the Colts came out onto the field that they were booed and they just turned the music up so you couldn't hear it. But when the Bears came out they were cheered rather loudly.

During the announcing of the captains for the coin flip as they said the named Peyton was booed LOUD. Adam V got a mixture and the other Colts guy got nothing. The Bears were cheered and Mushin Mohammed even got the "Moose" chant.

I'm not sure what you call that coverage. Besides the "lack of" coverage.Snap was good, ball slips on the PAT and you are down one.Then you decide to bypass Hester and that pays off.Then you blow the handoff.Then TJ breaks away and they have 1st and Goal.Talk about your rollercoasters.

That's like the first time in years that Fox put the whole cast of one of their shows next to eachother at a big game and then putting the camera on them and saying "Look there's Xxxxx Xxxx, Xxxxx Xxxx, Xxxxx Xxxx, and Xxxxx Xxxx. The cast of Xxxxxxx."

Careerbuilder.com was pretty funny with the office in the jungle but I have no idea what the hell that College Winner Chevy ad was. Maybe the marketing people should keep the rite to make Super Bowl ads to themselves.

I'm not sure how the Colts are winning, but they are. I feel like the Bears are winning. I'm sure Lovie Smith cares.

The Bud slapping ad was very funny. I didn't see the end coming at all.

The heart attack ad was OK if you have a heart problem I guess.

The GM ad with the robots was pretty funny and I don't know how anybody could've thought it was a dream.

Here's my questionWhen your team is too scared to kick to a guy because he already returned a TD so you have to scquib on your kickoffs, can you really pop up and start dancing after you tackle a guy at the 40 who isn't their return man when you didn't even make a great tackle in any way?

Two reasons Gator fans should have seen flashbacks of the opening kickoff before: the first is obvious and happened a few weeks ago. Any other Gator fan who doesn't know what I'm alluding to is not a Gator fan and is instead a bandwagon fan.

I guess I'm in the minority because I think the ads suck tonight (except for the rock, paper, sisoors ad). Come on, what was the deal with brokeback mechanics and then all the naked guys washing a car? Who's coming up with these ideas?

As for the game, I dont know how Indy is winning. They are following Peyton's lead and seem to be playing devoid of passion. The Bears want it more, but Rex cant do anything.

Only it's an ad they've been running for several months, at least. Why is it that Coke didn't have any new ads for the Super Bowl? What cheapskates.

I don't understand the CBS Half-time analysts saying that this has been Bad Rex. Rex has been pretty OK so far, he just hasn't had a lot to do. Hell, he has fewer interceptions than Manning at this point.

Also, I'm not the biggest Prince fan, but that was pretty good.

As someone who has seen the "Charlie Murphy!" punch in the face move at a couple different parties, if this slapping-the-face thing catches on, I'm suing Bud Light.

My take... with the exception of Rock-Paper-Scissors and the Toyota truck stopping within an inch of falling off that cliff (simulation or no), the commercials this year have been sub-standard. Some are ok, but most of them just suck.

Peyton puts the ball right in Harrison's hands, but a great strip (plus Harrison in a LOT of pain as his leg buckles underneath him) causes him to drop the pass, resulting in a punt. As Peyton walks to the sideline, he throws up his arms in a shrug-of-disgust at the coaching staff.

I have to agree that the stop the war ad was in pretty poor taste. I'm not happy with how things are going over there, but using disfigured troops like that and saying you dont support them if you support the surge was a low blow.

Assuming the Colts win... I think it's got to be Manning as the MVP. I like Shanoff's idea of a split MVP between Addai/Rhodes, but that just won't happen. That leaves only Manning, so he wins it by default.

Gosh, another miserable throw by Grossman. He had Berrian WIDE OPEN, but he threw a duck up there.

I just posted about who the MVP should be... I honestly think Grossman should deserve consideration (from us, not from whoever decides because it would be the biggest stomach punch ever). 2 INTs, a fumble, a few sacks... yikes.

Seriously guys, are we watching the same game? Is the game the most exciting we've ever seen? No. Is the game the most well executed we've seen? No. But give Indy credit. Indy is playing well. They are doing the little things to win the game. They realized that they can't throw it deep so they started throwing underneath. Why is that a problem? I've seen a couple comments knocking the Colts for throwing underneath. But guess what: THEY ARE WINNING AND ARE GOING TO WIN! I'm not about to knock them for doing what it takes to win just because it's not entertaining for the viewer.

Can we all agree that the officiating was pretty good today? Not a lot of penalties either way. The only flag I saw that I questioned was a facemask call against the Bears. They called a 15 yarder and I thought it should have been 5 but that's about it. Agreed?

Um.. what about it? At half-time, if it weren't for that fumble, the correct reaction would have been: "Rex has been good, why hasn't he gotten more than 8 throws?!" And even still, everyone else fumbled in the first half, why should Rex be any different?

Of course, the way it turned out, well, maybe they should've kept moving teh ball steadily there at toward the end instead of hitting the "fuck it" button and essentially putting the game away for teh Colts with that last pick.

I expect Manning to win, because he's the sentimental favorite (even though in the past two games, I have lost a shitload of respect for him: Not watching his D against Brady's last-minute drive two weeks ago, and the bitching about Harrison dropping the ball today.)

As for reviewing too many men on the field... I have never seen it either, but I would be surprised if it weren't a rule. The coaches are given exhaustive lists of what they can and can't review, and this is supposedly the best officiating crew out there...

Amen to what Boomer just said. Get off Peyton's back everyone. He is officially one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game of football. He's done pretty much everything he can. He won the MVP. He won the Super Bowl. IMO, he should win the Super Bowl MVP. A big fat "how you like them apples?" to all you Manning bashers out there.

(for the duration of the post, I would like to use the theoretical and somewhat stupid assumption Hockey is a sport that matters)Now that a Black Coach has won the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the NBA Championship when does a Black guy coach a team to a Stanley Cup?

41 Super Bowls, one is finally played in the rain, and you want to banish all future games to domes? Come on...

Yo, Dan, Dungy being black is the #2 storyline? Really? The NFL is a business. Race is irrelevant. If race were an issue, 70% of the NFL would be white. The only white people who talk about race in sports are those who harbor some kind of personal guilt. I'm excited about Mike Tomlin coaching my Steelers this year. So are 10 million other Steelers fans. The racist bastards who complain? They don't read your blog. And they have probably never heard of "computers" or "the internet" either. So seriously, come on. Stop perpetuating the myth that racism exists in professional sports.

Tony Dungy is in his post-game interview, and he names some black coaches who were in the league when he started coaching in 1981, Sherman Lewis being among them... and he was like (paraphrasing here): "They could have done it too. I'm not the first. They had the coaching talent to win the Super Bowl, but white people kept us down."

Now, I know he's being humble, but....

What? Name any mediocre coach who couldn't complile an awesome regular season record with Peyton and Edge and Harrison and Wayne and the litany of Tight Ends and great o-line and a suddenly-good defense. If Dungy were such a great coach, why did the defense suck for 4 years after he got there?

On the same note, why did anyone expect Norv Turner to do well as a head coach? Just because he had great offenses in Dallas? Look at the talent he had.

On the flip side, does anyone think that a white coach would have won more than 2 games in Oakland, with that lack of talent and group of malcontents?

Coaching has nothing to do with race, and race has nothing to do with coaching. The players make up 90% of the game. Sure, it's nice that young black kids have a coach to "look up to" since he's the same race and all, but damn. The emphasis on race is stopping people from focusing on the coach himself, and making us look at the color of his skin. That's bullshit.

Good game, no football gripes, just enjoyed it like everyone else in front of the HD TV...which made Phil Simms porcelain face look like it was going to crack at anytime.

My only complaint was the halftime show, where I totally disagree with you Dan. It was a horrible attempt at a medley that only used two Price songs, one over-rated Foo Fighters song, and added some Bob Dylan for good measure.

marco, do you not realize that Manning calls the plays? He calls a couple plays in the huddle and then goes to the line, reads the defense, and decides which play at that time. So Dungy did NOT take the ball out of Peyton's hands. Peyton realized running the football and short passes were working so he went with that. Quit frickin knocking Peyton Manning. He is one of the greatest QB's ever!

I spent the game wearing a Peyton Manning jersey someone "donated" because I was the only one in the room rooting for the Colts to win. It felt weird, but somehow it made the Colts winning that much better.

Before the halftime show, I said Prince would just do covers to spite everyone who wanted to hear "When Doves Cry".

As a Packers fan, I almost lost it during the fan-made commercial. Ok, I did lose it. Priceless.

On the 12-man challenge, one of my friends pointed out to me its reviewable because its not a judgement call. There is either 12 men out there or there isn't. Schrödinger can butt out.

And I felt that Dungy challenged it for 2 reasons: there was the off chance there were 12 men on the field, and it acted like a time out to allow him to decide if he wanted to kick it or go for it.

And speaking of kicking it, though its a non-issue now, I felt Dungy BIG TIME wussed out by kicking on the Bears 37.

User-generated Commericals:They sucked. They all sucked. Not funny at all. People stop this non-sense about them being better. They just weren't.

Game:Dennis Greene was right. The bears were exactly what we thought they were. I mean c'mon what do you really expect from a team that had the Packers, Vikings and Detriot in their division. Not exactly beating up on top-notch competition...Then again you can say that about most teams in the NFC.

Ok, yeah, sorry, one more: Am I the only one who thinks it shows how much sports coverage has disolved into "hype the angle!" that almost nobody in the past 2 weeks discussed that the Colts would intimatly understand the Bears D, since it was invented by Tony Dungy, and exploit its main weakness, namely a nickle and dime, run and dump offense?

I really hope you're not naive enough to think that race and racism have no impact or influence in sports (even in our modern sports era). Why is there such a discrepancy between the fact that probably 70% of players in the NFL are black but when you look at the people who are in the coaching and management ranks, the numbers don't even come close to matching the numbers represented amongst the players? And this is the pool from which future coaches and management positions are drawn from. So why is the NFL about 20% to 30% white in terms of players but 70% to 80% white in terms of coaches and managers? This is a result of long lingering notions of black players being more than capable on the playing field, but intellectually inadequate to handle the demands required to coach or manage a team. You can rationalize it as anything other than this fact, but this is the reality. And reality is a racist reality.

Damn, I missed a great live-blog/live-comment night. Nice time to lose the Internet connection. Stupid ComCast.

Let me just put it this way - my house had 8 die-hard Pats fans, and one Bears fan last night. Every single person (except me, sadly) had left by the two minute warning, just so they wouldn't have to watch Peyton Manning holding the Lombardi Trophy.

And yes - the Grossman Pick-6 was the worst pass (by a QB) in Super Bowl history. Of course, the floater that was ten yards short to Berrian wasn't much better.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.